February 4, 2010 at 11:30 am
· Filed under Body Walk, Health ·Tagged Body Walk, brain, healthy teeth, Heart, Intestines, Lungs, mississippi state university, mouth, Perry County
Body Walk’s latest stop was Beaumont Elementary in Perry County. Liz Sadler and Dawn Vosbein from Extension ensured a smooth operation. In Beaumont, kindergarten through fifth grade from New Augusta and Beaumont got to experience education disguised as fun. Nursing students were the presenters for each room and they really had a good time with the material, and teaching it to the students.
Ready to brush and floss
Our intestines can be 22 feet long
Building strong bones
Showing off their strong muscles
The children started off in the brain, and wound their way through each room, learning about important organs as they traveled. A few of the kindergarteners were scared of the brain room, or that the big teeth in the mouth room were going to eat them. Once reassured that there was nothing scary inside, they were ready to see everything. All the rest of the students were simply excited.
After they finished the tour, many of the students chatted about everything they had just seen. The mouth is an all time favorite but some of the kids thought the lungs or muscle rooms were pretty interesting as well. During the review, the kids called out answers to questions such as, “How many bones in the human body?”, or “How can you keep your heart healthy?”
Body Walk works because of teamwork, and it is a joy when the volunteers are enthusiastic. This trip was a joy.
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February 4, 2010 at 10:20 am
· Filed under Body Walk, Health ·Tagged Body Walk, extension service, Healthy Heart, Hinds County, Jackson, Lungs
In Hinds County, Body Walk set up at Wilkins Elementary, in Jackson. Here, many familiar associates were on hand to help. From Extension, Rocheryl Ware, Doyle Banks, Marcus Davis, Barbara Randalls, Eugenia Smith, and Sheirley Middleton once again worked hard to make the Body Walk a success.
Setting a new record of get-everything-off-the-truck, were the JROTC from Winfield High School, Col. Wallace and Sgt. Mote. They were all great help. Working together, the exhibit was unloaded and set up efficiently and smoothly.
The real fun of Body Walk comes the next day, when the children come through. At Wilkins, the presenters in each room were parents, teachers’ assistants, and teachers. The more a presenter gets into the spirit of Body Walk, the more fun it is for everyone and these presenters had SPIRIT.
Supporting Body Walk with an organ shirt
A brain and bones-two essential parts of the human body
A big smile to go with a big toothbrush
A food necklace to show good food choices
In addition to these participants, in the heart, the women had a shirt that had a bright red happy heart on the front, and a brown sad heart on the back of their shirt. The sad brown heart ate poorly and didn’t exercise. In the lungs, the two volunteers had bright healthy lungs on the front of their shirts, and black smoke-filled lungs on the back, with a message saying, “Please don’t smoke.”
Body Walk is a team effort and the more the volunteers bring to the presentation, the more the children get out of it. The kindergarten up to fifth graders at this school got a lot out of Body Walk.
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January 27, 2010 at 3:28 pm
· Filed under Body Walk, Health, Healthy Snacks, Nutrition ·Tagged Body Walk, Brandon, Extension, Food Bookmark, Healthy, Rankin
Body Walk traveled to Stonebridge Elementary, setting up in the cafeteria. Cafeterias can be great places for Body Walk, especially if there is no gym, activity building, or auditorium available. Cafeterias are where food is served, and food choices are a huge part of what the Body Walk is about. Not only does Body Walk teach the importance of exercise, no smoking, proper teeth brushing, and frequent handwashing, Body Walk also covers good food choices.
Right from the beginning, in the brain, children are shown items that represent proper portion sizes and what foods make the brain healthy and strong vs what foods make it weak and tired. They are given a food bookmark which they carry with them the rest of their trip through the body, and they keep at the end. Smart food choices are covered in the stomach, touched on in the small intestine, heart, and lungs, and then brought up strong again in the bone and muscle rooms. Presenters cover not only healthy food for breakfast, lunch, and supper, but also healthy food for mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.Food is a huge part of the lessons imparted by the Body Walk exhibit. How fitting to set the exhibit in a cafeteria where children encounter food choices every day.
Carol Ballard and Sharron Belew from Extension and Sue Townsend and Christy Tigrett from Stonebridge helped make the day a success. It is through the great teamwork of Extension and local schools that Body Walk is able to travel as much, and see as many students as we do.
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January 27, 2010 at 3:08 pm
· Filed under Body Walk, Health ·Tagged Body Walk, extension service, New Albany, Union county
Body Walk went to New Albany Elementary School. Gina Wills from Extension and Mrs. Richey from the school were on hand to make sure the day was a success. Here we saw third grade, from four different schools in the county. The children were amazed when they entered the activities building and saw the exhibit up close. Everyone loved the mouth. They wanted to sit on the teeth and use the big toothbrushes.
The sounds of counted jumping jacks filled the space when the kids got to that part of the script in the heart. And as always, the sounds of disgust were audible when the children saw in person the difference between a healthy pink lung and a diseased black lung.
The volunteers did a great job. Without their volunteering of their time, Body Walk would not run as smoothly as it does.
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January 21, 2010 at 10:30 am
· Filed under Body Walk ·Tagged Beta Club, Body Walk, Perry County, teeth, tooth care
Body Walk went to Perry County, to Runnelstown. Here, Liz Saldler of Extension, and Becky Beasley, school nurse were on hand to help oversee the set up, running, and take down. Everything went very smoothly. Upper grade students were the volunteers for each step of the process and they were excellent.
Liz hands out bookmarks between the Brain and Mouth stations.
On the day of the exhibit, Kindergarten through Fifth grade students toured Body Walk. They learned from Beta Club students, who were the presenters in each room. The third graders were excited they were chosen to answer a short quiz after their tour. One first grader, on seeing the mouth, said, “Those teeth are gonna eat us up!” All his classmates laughed. It was explained that no, the teeth won’t eat anyone, they are just fun stools to sit on.
Oh my Body Walk, what big teeth you have!
Overall, it was an excellent trip and we hope we can return to Runnelstown in the future.
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January 20, 2010 at 10:31 am
· Filed under Body Walk ·Tagged Attala County, Body Walk, Kosciusko
Attala County welcomed Body Walk to the Boys and Girls Club in Kosciusko. Becky Hamilton of Extension, and Susan McAdams, the school coordinator, helped make sure everything ran smoothly. In Kosciusko, local second and third graders walked through each room. They learned how to protect their head, how to brush their teeth, how long their intestines are, and how big their heart is. As they continued the tour, they learned what happens to your lungs if you smoke, how many bones and how many muscles are in the body, and finally, they learned how to keep their skin protected from the sun and from infection.
Sir Rebreum welcomes you to the Body Walk.
All along the way, they learned how food is important to keep every part of the body healthy. In addition to smart food choices, they learned why a person should drink plenty of water, and get enough excercise. The children absorbed the information so much, that at the end, they were able to share facts they learned during the review station.
Pathway of Life, Body Walk review
The students received a workbook and sticker after they completed Body Walk. The workbook will further enforce all the information they learned from going through Body Walk.
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January 15, 2010 at 11:56 am
· Filed under Body Walk, Healthy Snacks ·Tagged Body Walk, Desoto County, Healthy Snacks, North Mississippi, Olive Branch
Body Walk returned to Desoto county, this time to Olive Branch. It was great to see old friends and new faces. Joy Anderson, Carol Sicilia, and Jason Jones were on hand once again to help make the Body Walk exhibit a success.
Working to organize all the details at Overpark Elementary was Angie Halford, RN and school nurse. She did an excellent job, from arranging volunteers to scheduling groups. She also made sure her volunteers had a wonderful lunch both days. Plenty of healthy snacks and beverages were on hand ranging from assorted fruit, granola bars, to water and diet soda.
Healthy Snacks
Cool refreshing water
Kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth,and fifth grade students got to tour Body Walk this time around. The young children were a delight, their “oh’s” and “ah’s” a treat to hear as they entered each new room, and saw each new prop. The older students were not quite as vocal, but their smiles gave them away. All the students were excited to leave with a workbook and sticker.
One sticker and one workbook for each student
Every trip, at least one volunteer stands out for excellent presentation. This trip, the theatrical woman in the small intestine room soared above the rest. This room is smaller than the others, due to half the room being taken up with an intestine pathway, but she didn’t let that stop her. After each group sat, she was on her feet, pointing out the visuals on the huge picture of the small intestines, handing out props, and quizzing the kids on intestine facts, water facts, and kidney facts. She engaged the children and made learning about our guts more entertaining than I have ever heard it.
Drink Water!
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January 8, 2010 at 11:42 am
· Filed under Body Walk ·Tagged Body Walk, Columbia, Health, Marion County
Body Walk is off to a great start! We began the year in Columbia, MS. Here, Amanda Woods arranged for the local Junior Auxiliary and the Crown Club Girls to help set up, volunteer and take down the exhibit. Everyone was wonderful! Set up in the Columbia Expo Center was an interesting challenge due to the low ceiling.
Crown Club Members
Usually, when we set up, the truck is unloaded and the tents go up first. We open the tents, then raise them, attach ceilings, attach walls, raise them to the final height, and then set them into final position. Here, we had to raise them, set them into position, and then do the rest of the steps. It was a challenge, requiring some tents to be raised and lowered several times due to having to miss light fixtures. Everyone was a trooper, and with excellent teamwork, we got all the tents positioned and the rest of the exhibit assembled smoothly.
While Amanda oversaw the project, she had great help from Kathy Petty, Emily Knight and Renae Stringer. Each county has different ways of entertaining or occupying the students before or after they finish their turn in the Body Walk. Here, many tables were set up in a different part of the building so the students could color while they were waiting. After they finished, they had a snack. The process went very smoothly.
Crayon tables stretch into the distance.
Basket of Colors
Body Walk saw 400 second graders from four schools, East Marion, West Marion, Columbia, and Columbia Academy.
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December 18, 2009 at 10:13 am
· Filed under Body Walk, Health ·Tagged Allied Health, Extension, Health, Lauderdale County, Meridian, MS Body Walk
The last trip for Body Walk in 2009 was to Meridian, in Lauderdale County. Here, there were many people who made this last trip of the year a success, and ended the ‘09 portion of the traveling year on a high note. Dianne Shannon, the RN school nurse, Judy Crowson, wellness co-ordinator, Ann Compton, Erica Clark, Robbie McKee, and Merrick Jackson, all RN school nurses were on sight to help set up, run the program, and take down. Jerry Burton, 4H Youth Extension Agent, and Josephine Tate, Area Health Agent were a delight to work with.
Hard working Volunteers
Body Walk is designed to accommodate Kindergarten through Fifth grade. In Meridian, Body Walk saw Fifth graders from seven schools. Each county is different, and each Extension agent in conjunction with the school coordinator decides which children will be best served by touring the exhibit.
The presenters for each station can be adult volunteers, teachers, Extension agents, college students, or mature high school students. In Meridian, the Fifth graders were taught by high school Allied Health Students. The Allied Health Students did an excellent job of presenting the material, keeping order in their specific station, and utilizing the props to enhance the delivery of the material.
Allied Health Students lead Fifth graders in exercise after the tour.
At the end, each teacher was given a stack of workbooks for her class, as well as a sticker for the students to take home. The workbooks have exercises to reinforce the material presented in the Body Walk. Thanks to everyone who worked so well together. Meridian was a great way to close out 2009 for the Mississippi Body Walk.
Counting Workbooks and Stickers for all the students.
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November 23, 2009 at 1:44 pm
· Filed under Body Walk, Health, Nutrition ·Tagged Be Smart from the Inside Out, Body Walk
Body Walk’s last trip before THANKSGIVING was to Lawrence County. This was a fun trip. There were many new faces, and some old Body Walk pro’s. The exhibit was set up in the Rod Paige Middle School gym. Third, fourth, and fifth graders, from three schools, plus home schooled students enjoyed going through the exhibit.
Each time Body Walk is set up and run, it is different because the volunteers are different. This trip, the wonderful woman who worked in the brain station was consistently entertaining. She popped out to greet each group with a huge smile on her face, and a hearty, “Welcome to the brain!”
Most of the rooms were staffed with Extension Agents. It was nice to work with men and women I have seen several times this year already. Having experienced presenters in the stations takes the Body Walk experience to a new level for the students. Thanks to Rocheryl, Patrick, Doyle, Marcus, and everyone else who stepped up once again to spend a weekday teaching children how to be ‘be smart from the inside out.” Also, thanks to Navlean Pittman who booked Body Walk for her county.
Hearty Heart and Windy Lungs
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